After the greetings were over, the Princess Consort returned to her inner room. Liu, the old nanny who was with her, couldn't wait to suggest, "Princess Consort, although we used to think that Guarjia clan was formidable, she's getting more and more formidable now. You must think of a way to suppress her properly." Her tone was full of fear.
The Princess Consort said, “I understand what you mean, but it’s not like we haven’t tried to suppress the Guarjia clan. We’ve never succeeded. And look at the last two times the women in the inner courtyard have tried to attack the Guarjia clan. They didn’t succeed either time. Instead, they suffered the consequences themselves.”
Granny Liu frowned and said, "Then, Madam, what should we do?"
The princess shook her head. "There's no way to deal with it for now, but there's one thing we must be careful about: we must never provoke her recklessly without being 80 or 90% certain of success. Otherwise, we'll end up biting her instead of killing her."
Granny Liu said unwillingly, "Such an opportunity is too rare to come by, but doesn't that mean we have to keep to ourselves and the Guarjia clan to the very end? Is this the only way?"
The princess nodded with a wry smile, "That's the only way."
Granny Liu remained silent. Even the shrewd and cunning Fujin couldn't do anything about it, so what could she do if she worried that Fujin and the First Prince's positions would be threatened? With her stupid brain, she couldn't think of any solutions.
Wait, eldest prince, yes, prince.
Granny Liu's eyes lit up, and she excitedly suggested to the Princess Consort, "Princess Consort, let's be direct. So what if Lady Guarjia is powerful? The women in the inner court, except for you, all rise in status because of their sons. As long as her sons..."
"No!" The princess's face suddenly turned ugly, and she interrupted Liu Mama's unfinished words decisively.
Liu Mama paused in her excitement, somewhat bewildered. "Why not? If you're worried that the Prince will find out, that's fine too. I'll insist that it was my own idea and it certainly won't implicate you or the First Prince."
She had recently come to understand that the Princess Consort could manage on her own even without her. Since that was the case, she would do her utmost to reduce the number of people threatening them as much as possible.
Immediately, she became excited again, having come up with a plan to kill two birds with one stone. "It's fine if you don't stick to your own idea. Then I'll implicate others, such as Li Shi or Hesheli Shi, and muddy the waters. That way, everyone will suspect you, which is even better for you, my lady."
"Granny Liu, I know you're good to me, but I don't need it. I just hope you can stay safely by my side forever." Moved by Granny Liu's words, the Fujin (principal wife) stopped referring to herself as "this Fujin" and started calling her "me" affectionately.
Moved by the kindness of the Fujin (princess's wife), Liu Mama felt even more determined to consider the Fujin's well-being. Her eyes hardened, and she said resolutely, "Fujin (princess's wife), this is my own choice, you..."
"I've already said, we don't need it!" the Fujin shouted.
Granny Liu was startled, her mind went blank for a moment, and she forgot what she was going to say.
Seeing that the other party was frightened, the princess immediately lowered her voice and said, "Your plan can only fool people without brains, but my master and Guarjia are not. They will definitely suspect me. Once something is done, it will definitely leave traces. It is impossible for them not to find out about me. It's just a matter of time."
Granny Liu: "..."
Seeing that Liu Mama was swayed by her words, the Fujin pressed on, determined to dispel the woman's dangerous idea. Otherwise, if Liu Mama actually did it behind her back, she would be in deep trouble, and she and Honghui would be implicated. Besides, given Liu Mama's methods and intellect, it was questionable whether Guarjia Shi could even succeed!
So she continued, "Guarjia is different from those women who are only after fame, fortune and family. She values her two children very much. If something happens to the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince, do you think she would go crazy?"
Before Liu Mama could speak, she continued, "She will. You know how cunning and scheming Guarjia is. If she believes that I, the wife, harmed the two princes, do you think she will let me, the eldest prince, go free?"
"How dare she?!" Granny Liu exclaimed angrily.
"Does she not dare?" the princess asked in return.
Granny Liu fell silent.
"See, you know she dares. So, don't provoke her, just keep to yourself. Besides, think back to how many years Guarjia has been in the household. She only bothers people when they provoke her. So, as long as we don't cause her trouble, she will always maintain her respect for me as the primary wife."
These were patterns she discovered in a flash of inspiration when she was pondering how to treat the Fourth Prince's mother, Lady Guarjia, after giving up on targeting the Fourth Prince Hongxuan.
Granny Liu, who was standing nearby, thought for a moment and her expression turned somewhat unpleasant.
Inside the room, Liu Hong and Yao Huang thought back for a moment, then looked at each other and began to smile bitterly.
"So, it seems we made a mistake in how we treated Consort Guarjia before?" Liu Hong said.
The Princess Consort shook her head. "Regardless of what happened before, from now on, our main courtyard and the Peach Courtyard will maintain a 'live and let live' attitude."
Granny Liu, Liu Hong, and Yao Huang nodded.
"besides."
"Anything else?" The three looked at the Fujin with puzzled expressions.
The Princess Consort smiled and said, "Don't talk about dealing with the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince anymore. The Fourth Prince saved the First Prince, and the First Prince and I cannot shirk this debt of gratitude. Moreover, judging from this incident, the Fourth Prince is pure and kind, and it can also be seen that Lady Guarjia did not teach the Fourth Prince any bad thoughts."
The three women, including Granny Liu, seemed to be deep in thought.
The Princess Consort continued, "Comparing the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince, do you think, under the same circumstances, the Third Prince would decisively order someone to save Honghui?"
Liu Mama recalled the day the prince and his wife returned to the manor a few days ago. The young Third Prince was already very jealous. She immediately shook her head and said, "Even if he is young and not ruthless enough, he would probably hesitate and not be so decisive."
“But the Fourth Prince wouldn’t.” The Princess Consort said, her expression relaxing. “The young prince is still young and easily influenced by those close to him. Guarjia doesn’t have that kind of ambition and desire, so the Fourth Prince has been influenced to be somewhat innocent and kind. But Li, obviously, has a greater ambition and desire, which is why the Third Prince’s jealousy is so strong.”
The three women, including Granny Liu, were speechless. The Princess Consort's analysis made a lot of sense.
"It seems you all agree, right? Then let's continue to get along with Taoyuan like this from now on!" After saying that, the Fujin picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip of tea to moisten her lips, which were a little dry from talking so much.
After exchanging glances, the three women, including Granny Liu, said in unison, "We understand. We will get along peacefully with Peach Courtyard from now on."
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